


Desperate But Not Hopeless

by lifeinskinnyjeans



Category: Green Day
Genre: F/M, Separations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-04-26
Updated: 2012-04-26
Packaged: 2017-11-04 09:22:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/392257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifeinskinnyjeans/pseuds/lifeinskinnyjeans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Corie Blackwell is such a tomboy. She screws around with her best friend, Evelyn Stanton, and they get into the worst of trouble. Despite being a tomboy, though, Corie is incredibly close with her mother, Cassie Blackwell, after her father was killed in action in the military. With an eleven-year-old sister who was diagnosed with leukemia six years ago, Corie's life turns upside down when she is mysteriously separated from her mother one day at a concert with her. But then Corie meets the band of the concert she went to, Green Day, and they are the ones Corie will end up thanking for not only helping her to find her mother, but also other problems, including an abusive boyfriend and her sister taking a turn for the worst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. one.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is currently on hiatus.

_A knock at the door.  
  
An innocent ten-year-old girl answers it.  
  
Her mother runs up behind her, bursting into tears at the sight of the two emotionless men in olive green suits holding an American flag folded in the shape of a triangle. She collapsed on the floor behind her daughter, loud sobs echoing throughout the house.  
  
Once the girl realized what that flag was for, her unnaturally dark chocolate brown eyes didn't hesitate to silently start spilling hot tears down the pale cheeks they sat above.  
  
Her mother had finally composed herself enough to take the folded flag from her daughter, too weak with grief to stand and take it herself. More tears freely flowing, the girl and the woman sat and wept for the man they now both knew would never be coming back._  
  
Corie Blackwell was reminded of that flag, that day every time she even glimpsed at the name tattooed on her right forearm.  
  
When she first got it, her memories came flooding back, and she had to force herself not to cry. For about a week after she had been inked with his name, she had flip-flopped back and forth between loving it and hating it. She had regretted getting it multiple times after she got it, but just kept telling herself it was the only way she could remember him since the flag had been buried with him. Even though he had been absent from her life for nine years, he was still the most important man in her life, and she knew that her boyfriend of nine months despised that about her.  
  
"Corie?" Snapped back to reality, Corie shook her head and pulled her ripped tank top over her head, peeking over the railing.  
  
\--~~~--  
  
"Corie?" Cassandra Blackwell called up the staircase to her eldest daughter.  
  
Corie poked her head around the corner of her bedroom door. "Mom?"  
  
"When is Evelyn getting here?" Cassandra asked.  
  
Corie poked her head back in her bedroom and then back out again thirty seconds later. "In about ten minutes," she answered.  
  
"Okay, good. I'm going out for a few drinks with Moriah, and I'll be back by midnight," Cassandra explained.  
  
"Evelyn and I should be home between then and one. When is Gabrielle getting here?" Corie asked.  
  
"Any minute now." Cassandra heard a car pull in the driveway and glanced out the window. She knew it was hopeless, and never true, but every time she heard a car pull in her driveway, her first thought was always that it was her husband finally coming home, and that the folded flag was just delivered to the wrong house. But that was never the case.  
  
Gabrielle walked through the big green front door yet again, and Cassandra briefly placed her hand over the tattoo of her late husband's name above her heart before walking into the foyer to greet Gabrielle.  
  
\--~~~--  
  
Tami heard the door open and she peeled her eyes away from her book to see who had entered. It was Gabrielle, her babysitter, which meant that both Corie and her mother were going out for the night, which was perfectly fine with Tami. It's not like Tami liked to do much; she had always been a quiet girl, especially since her father died.  
  
Tami was only two years old when her father died, so she didn't really _know_ who her father really was. She had only seen pictures of him, and heard countless stories, not to mention the tattoos both Corie and her mother showed. When she turned eighteen, Tami was also getting her father's name tattooed on her. She just didn't know where. She had time to think about it, though, she was only eleven. Tami smiled as she thought of this and returned to her book as Gabrielle walked into the living room.  
  
"Hey, Tami!" she greeted.  
  
Tami looked up from her book once again. "Hey, Gabrielle," she responded with a grin.  
  
"Mind if I sit down?" Gabrielle asked, pointing to the spot occupied by Tami's feet.  
  
"Sure," Tami answered, scrunching up her feet to give Gabrielle enough room to sit down.  
  
Tami then heard her sister thump down the stairs in her black-and-red Converse and she came into the living room for a moment. "Bye, Tami, I'm going out. I'll be back between midnight and one. Love you," she hastily explained, hugging Tami.  
  
"Have fun. Love you, too," Tami said, watching Corie scamper over to their mother, purse key-chains jingling.  
  
"I'm heading out now, Mom, love you."  
  
Their mother spun around, taping emergency numbers to a cabinet door. "Love you, too. I'll be heading out behind you," she replied.  
  
A few clicks of heels and squeaks of sneakers on wood, jingling of keys and key-chains, and one shut of the front door later, Tami returned to her book yet again, only getting to read about seven words before Gabrielle addressed her again. "So, Tami. Are you hungry?"


	2. two.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corie + Evelyn + car = party.

**CORIE**  
  
"Hey, bitch!" Evelyn called out obnoxiously, leaning over the gear shift to slap my ass as I got into her car.  
  
I laughed, sitting down and buckling my seat belt. "Hey, Ev." We hugged, and she put the car in gear. "Where are we headed tonight?"  
  
"This mad sick party," she answered, looking both ways before making a left out of my neighborhood.  
  
"Who's is it?" I asked, tapping out the beat to the song coming through Evelyn's car stereo.  
  
"Some random jock, but who cares? It's a party, Cor." I chuckled, continuing to tap out the beat on my leg. "You know this song?" Evelyn asked, confused.  
  
"Yeah, but I couldn't tell you the name or who it's by," I answered.  
  
"I'm not sure of the name either, I've only heard it a couple times, but I know it's by this punk band called Green Day," she explained.  
  
"This is Green Day?" I clarified, pointing at the stereo.  
  
Evelyn nodded. "Why?"  
  
"'Cause my mom and I are going to a concert of theirs in, like, a week or something," I said, shrugging.  
  
"Oh, that's awesome!" Evelyn exclaimed, skipping over the next song. She smiled as she heard the next one, headbanging for a few seconds at a red light.  
  
I laughed and then prodded her in the arm. She looked up and proceeded straight, where it seemed a lot of other cars were going. I guess we were getting close to the party. "Yeah, it should be."  
  
"I love how close you are with your mom," Evelyn remarked, glancing over at me. I smiled. "My mom won't go anywhere with me. Like, she won't even take me to school if I'm not driving. It's like she's embarrassed of me or something...." She trailed off, staring out at the bumper of the car in front of us.  
  
"I bet she is, with such a whore for a daughter," I joked.  
  
Evelyn laughed and thrust her hand out in an attempt to to hit me. She missed, whacking her fingers against the gear shift. "Ow, fuck!" she hissed, rubbing her hand on her pant leg.  
  
I laughed at her, not only for failing to hit me, but also for whacking her fingers on her gear shift. "Smooth move, Ev."  
  
She glared at me as we parked on the street about four houses down. "Shut up," she mumbled.  
  
I just laughed again as I unbuckled my seat belt and made to leave Evelyn's car. "Come on, we have boyfriends that are expecting us," I said, opening the door.  
  
"You do," Evelyn said, locking her car and shoving her keys in her pocket. I chuckled quietly to myself as I walked into the house.  
  
\--~~~--  
  
"Tom-Tom!" I squeaked, spotting my boyfriend amongst the growing crowd and running up to hug him.  
  
"Hey, Corie," he said, laughing and wrapping me in his tight embrace, the one I came to love so much. Although that was one of the more loving things he had been doing compared to everything else lately...  
  
"You two just get here?" I asked, looking over at Tom's friend, Will.  
  
"No, we've been here for about a half hour," Will answered, taking a sip of what I assumed was beer out of a tall red cup.  
  
"What about you, babe?" Tom asked, looking down at me and handing me my own tall red cup full of what I still assumed was beer. I knew it was some sort of alcohol, anyway.  
  
"Yeah, Evelyn and I just got here," I answered, gesturing back at Evelyn. I watched a light blush spread across her face when Will looked over at her.  
  
"What are you two whispering about?" Evelyn shrieked upon seeing Tom and I whispering and giggling.  
  
"Nothing," Tom said, squeezing me closer to him and accentuating my guilty smile. Anyone with eyes and a relationship with either Will or Evelyn could see they were majorly crushing on each other, but are both too shy to do anything about it.  
  
Evelyn rolled her eyes and sighed, innocently accepting a tall red cup from Will. He took her hand and she gasped, almost dropping her cup, but making a quick recovery. "Come on, Evelyn, let's leave these two alone. I have friends I want you to meet anyway," Will said, leading her away from Tom and I.  
  
Tom looked down at me, smiling. "Alone at last," he murmured, lowering his head to kiss me.  
  
I giggled, gesturing around at the bunches of people milling about around us. "Not exactly, Tommy," I said.  
  
He just smiled.  
  
A few hours later found the party house full of couples. Eleven o'clock on a Friday night found this house full of couples hooking up, couples sucking face in corners, and it was quiet enough to hear the rocking of beds from the lucky couples upstairs.  
  
Tom and I were sitting in a corner, slumped against a wall, tall red cups now empty in our hands, Tom's arm around my waist, squeezing me close to him. "Did you give your mom a time frame of when you'd be home?" he asked.  
  
I nodded, peering into my empty cup. "I told her Evelyn and I would be back between midnight and one."  
  
Tom nodded, kissing my neck. I giggled. "So we have some time," he murmured.  
  
"Tom...," I warned, pulling away from him. He sighed, his face clearly showing angered annoyance even in the semi-darkness. "When are you gonna let me have you?" he asked after a few minutes a strained silence.  
  
I shrugged. "Soon."  
  
Tom smirked and kissed my cheek. "You say that every time I ask."  
  
I giggled and shifted closer into him. "Well this time I mean it," I said.  
  
Tom grinned at me and turned my face to his to kiss me on the lips. "I'm glad to hear that." He stood , extending a hand to help me up. "Now let's go find Will and Evelyn. We can all go back to my house and have a little party of our own."


	3. three.

Tom and I found Will and Evelyn slumped in a corner, just as we were a few minutes before. "What are you two up to?" Tom asked loudly, startling Evelyn. I giggled and nudged Tom to notice how Will took Evelyn's hand when she jumped.  
  
Evelyn gave Tom a death glare and Will rubbed her shoulder, trying to calm her. She released a loud breath and looked over at Will, smiling, before looking back up at us. "We _were_ having a causal conversation, but _you_ and your _obnoxious_ **_boyfriend_** OBVIOUSLY ruined that," she answered.  
  
Will was laughing while putting an arm around Evelyn's shoulder and tipping her sideways so her head rested on his shoulder. Evelyn's answer made both Tom and I giggle, me even more so when I saw Will sneak a small kiss into Evelyn's hair and keep his face there.  
  
"Well, we has a good reason for ruining your casual conversation," I argued.  
  
"And what would that be?" Evelyn demanded, still audibly annoyed.  
  
"Because it's quarter after eleven and I told my mom that we'd be home between midnight and one," I explained, a hand on my hip.  
  
Will looked at his watch and took his face out of Evelyn's long, auburn hair. "Oh, shit, Evie, I gotta get going," he said, standing up. He then turned to Evelyn and extended it to help her up. She took it and stood, crushing and tossing her empty red cup into the corner she and Will were just occupying.  
  
"Well, Corie, I suppose you and I should go. You most likely had less to drink than I did, so I'm letting you drive," she said, stretching from having being in a squatting position for a couple hours.  
  
I giggled and grabbed Evelyn's keys out of her back pocket as she walked past me. I pocketed her keys and turned to Tom. "I gotta go, boy."  
  
Tom sighed and kissed me. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? We'll do dinner and a movie at my house," he suggested.  
  
I nodded and kissed him back. "Sounds awesome. I love you."  
  
Tom grinned and squeezed me tightly to him. "I love you too."  
  
I smiled and pulled back, only our hands connected. "I'll see you tomorrow, babe."  
  
Tom just squeezed my hand as I walked out the party house door, jingling Evelyn's keys as I pulled them out of my pocket.  
  
As I exited, I saw not only Evelyn standing by her car, but Will was there, too, and they were kissing. I smiled and walked around to the driver's side and sat, leaning over the gear shift to open the passenger door. I purposely bumped the door into Evelyn, startling her and Will apart. They both looked at me, knowing I had done that on purpose. "Come on, Ev, we gotta get going. You'll see Will again, I promise," I said, laughing.  
  
Both Will and Evelyn sighed. They kissed one last time and Evelyn lowered herself into her car, closing the door behind her. She sighed as her seat belt clicked into the buckle and I pulled out of the line of cars and into the street. "What?" I asked her.  
  
She sighed again and looked at me, the biggest grin I have ever seen spread across her face. "Will," she said, leaning her head back against the headrest. "He's so amazing."  
  
I giggled, smiling, and stole a glance over at her. "He's had a crush on you for pretty much about forever."  
  
Evelyn giggled as I made a left into my neighborhood. "Dude, he's just so amazing. I can't believe I didn't see this any earlier."  
  
I laughed, pulling into my driveway and shutting off the headlights. "Home before midnight. Perfect."  
  
Evelyn staggered in the behind me, giggling uncontrollably. "Mom?" I called out quietly. I saw Gabrielle poke her head around the corner. "Oh, hey, Gabrielle. I suppose my mother isn't home yet?"  
  
Gabrielle shook her head. "Nope. You're home early, though."  
  
I nodded, "Evelyn and I are gonna go chill in the basement. Is Tami upstairs?"  
  
Gabrielle nodded. "She's probably reading. She went upstairs half an hour ago."  
  
I nodded again. "Alright. Well, Evelyn and I will be in the basement." Gabrielle nodded this time.  
  
"Hey, when is that concert of yours again?" Evelyn asked as we rounded the corner to my basement.  
  
I thought for a moment, stopping at the top of the stairs. "Next week, I think."  
  
"Concert?" Gabrielle asked, looking at me.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Who are you seeing?"  
  
"Green Day."  
  
"Really?" I nodded. "My boyfriend went to one of their shows, like, a month ago, and he said it was awesome! He didn't stop talking about it for, like, four days afterward," Gabrielle said.  
  
I grinned. "Awesome! My mom and I are going together," I said.  
  
"That's awesome. You two should have tons of fun. Are you a fan?" Gabrielle asked.  
  
I shook my head. "When she bought the tickets to our last concert, she saw them in the suggestions sidebar. She clicked on the link and heard a couple of their songs. She thought I would like them, and she does too, so she bought a pair of tickets for us for their show next week," I explained.  
  
"So have you heard some of their stuff?" she asked.  
  
I nodded. "I put the couple songs my mom gave me on my iPod."  
  
"Cool. Tell me how it is! They're one of my favorite bands, and I'm dying to go to one of their concerts," Gabrielle said.  
  
I nodded, smiling. "I will. I'm looking forward to it." I turned to Evelyn. "Come on. It's nearing time for me to kick your skinny ass at Guitar Hero again."  
  
She just laughed as we descended the basement stairs.


	4. four.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drama! Suspense! And a mysterious new character.

**CORIE**  
  
My doorbell rang for the second time that evening. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" I yelled, descending the stairs as fast as my heels would allow. "Calm down, calm down," I muttered to myself as I straightened my dress. The doorbell rang for a third time just as I opened the door to my boyfriend standing on my porch.  
  
"Hey, sweetheart," he greeted, smiling and stepping inside. He then noticed my dress and heels. "Why did you get all dressed up if we're only going to my house?"  
  
I shrugged and looked down at my little black-and-white-striped dress. "I don't know, I have to have a reason to dress up for my boyfriend?" I asked, looking up at him innocently.  
  
Tom smiled and kissed my forehead. "I'm not saying I don't love the dress, but the heels are a bit much," he remarked.  
  
"I'll go change into some flats real fast," I suggested, turning toward the stairs.

Tom grabbed my wrist roughly, abruptly stopping me from going back up the stairs. I tried to hide my wince as I looked back up at him. "It's fine," he said sternly. "Let's go." He jerked my wrist out my door, barely giving me time to close my door, let alone lock it. _It's fine_ , I thought. _Mom knows I'm going out, and she's fine with Tami being alone for an hour or so._  
  
Tom and I didn't speak for most of the ride to his house. When we turned into his neighborhood, he stole a look at my blank face. "Are you okay with Italian for dinner?" he asked quietly.  
  
I looked over at him, smiling, as he turned onto his street and immediately pulled into his driveway. "You mean you cooked something for us?" I asked incredulously.  
  
Tom chuckled, shutting off the ignition and shoving his keys into his pocket. "Yes, so you can stop being so surprised now," he said. He came around to my side of his car and pulled me out. When I was standing, I kissed him on the cheek and he kissed me on the lips in return. "Come on, babe, it's waiting for us."  
  
~ooo~ooo~  
  
After a delicious dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with buttered Italian bread, Tom and I were laid out on the pullout couch in his basement watching old home movies his mom had recorded when he was in elementary school. We were laughing at the remarks I would make about how cute he was as a child. "What ever happened to that adorable little boy?" I would joke and we would start laughing again.  
  
After one such bout of laughter, Tom looked at me and there was a twinkle in his eyes I had never seen before. He kissed me then, roughly, but passionately. After realizing what was probably going to happening, I pulled away from Tom and whispered, "No, Tom," but he didn't listen.  
  
He wrapped his arms around my back, making it now impossible for me to escape. I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen, and there was no way I could get out of it that I could instantaneously see.  
  
Tom's dextrous fingers then swiftly unzipped my dress, roughly shoving the straps off my shoulders. "Tom, please-" I started before he cut me off by pushing his lips onto mine roughly. I tried to push him off, but he was too strong.  
  
When he pulled away, he looked at me with evil eyes and quickly slid my dress down my torso, piling it at my hips. He then stood up, pinning my shoulders down so I wouldn't get up or be able to hit him and then escape. Never taking his eyes off of mine, he released my shoulders and slid my dress down off of my hips, taking my underwear with it. Throwing them to the side, he quickly undid his belt, taking off both his pants and his boxer shorts. If I hadn't been paralyzed with fear, I would've ran away a long time ago.  
  
Tom's next move was one I knew I would have nightmares about for a very long time to come. The boy I thought loved me gripped my hips fiercely and forced himself inside me. His entrance was rough and the intensity unexpected, making me squeal in discomfort. He almost completely pulled out, but he then pushed back in again, deeper and even rougher than the previous time. I squealed loudly even though I knew no one would hear me, a fact which then started to make me cry.  
  
An hour later, which I spent screaming myself hoarse, Tom finally pulled out and retrieved his boxers from the floor. He pulled them on along with his jeans and stretched. I bolted upright and away from him, snatching my underwear and dress up off the floor and slipping into them as I backed into the nearest corner. I couldn't get my dress zipped up to the top by myself, and Tom started walking toward me. "Here, lemme help you," he said, extending his hands toward me.  
  
"NO!" I screamed, backing up against the wall of the corner. I slid against the wall toward the stairs, hoping to make an escape before something else happened. "You don't get to fucking _touch_ me, you slimy bastard!"  
  
"Baby-" Tom tried to say, but I cut him off.  
  
"NO!" I screamed again. "You don't have the right to call me that anymore! You don't even have the right to _have_ me anymore!" I shot up the stairs like a bullet out of a gun and flung the basement door open, speeding around the corner and out the front door into the pouring rain.  
  
I ran, barefoot, up the adjoining street for maybe about half an hour, before the fear and adrenaline started to wear off, making me slow down to an eventual stop. The pain from the realization of what just happened made me fall to my knees on the soaked pavement. I didn't care that I had probably just skinned my knees; hell, that was the least of my problems right now. It was then that I finally began to cry, and not just a few tears down my cheeks, I'm talking heavy, gasping sobs that racked my body as I continued to cry. When I finally gained my composure and stopped crying, I began to feel lightheaded.  
  
My eyelids fell over my cloudy, bloodshot eyes, and I fainted.  
  
~ooo~ooo~  
  
I woke up in an unfamiliar setting; black walls and a red ceiling covered with scribbles of what looked like lyrics and random pictures. I tried to remember what had happened to get me here, and then it came to me in a wave.  
  
I remembered the annoyed ringing of my doorbell, and opening the door to Tom on the doorstep -- Tom. His name was all I needed to remember to bring every detail of the previous night rushing back in an overwhelming wave; the screaming, the pain, the rough hands on my hips, the running out into the rain and the eventual fainting that resulted. _I must be in the...residence...of my Good Samaritan_ , I thought. I started looking around the scribble-covered room, and noticed a dark-haired boy sitting on a chair in the corner.  
  
"Oh, you're awake," he said quietly, standing up and stepping into the light. He was relatively short, maybe five and a half feet tall, giving me the impression that he was maybe eighteen, nineteen at the most. He also had shaggy black hair, wore all black and smeared eyeliner, and had the most piercing green eyes I had ever seen. They turned yellow-green the more I looked into them.  
  
Then remembering that it was rude to stare, I looked away briefly and then looked back up at the boy. "Yeah, I am. Do you mind telling me where I am?" I asked, rubbing my head.  
  
The boy smiled, chuckling a bit. "My bedroom," he answered. _He has a really cute smile_ , I thought to myself. I then shook my head. _Focus, Corie. You have to figure out where the cute boy who probably picked you up off the street lives._  
  
"And where exactly do you live?" I asked.  
  
"Oakland," the boy answered smartly.  
  
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "No shit, boy. Listen, can I just have my phone?"  
  
The boy shrugged. "I didn't find a phone on you when I picked you up last night."  
  
I then remembered that I had left my phone in my bag, which I had left behind when I ran away from...his...house last night. I dropped my hand loudly on the bed when I remembered this. "Fucking perfect," I muttered. I then saw what was probably the boy's phone land on the sheets in front of me. I looked up at him.  
  
"You can use mine to call whoever you need to," he said.  
  
"Thanks," I said, picking up the phone and dialing Evelyn's cell. She picked up in between the second and third rings. "Evelyn?"  
  
"Corie?"  
  
"Hi. I need to ask you a favor."  
  
She didn't answer for a moment, and I heard white noise in the background; shifting positions, perhaps? "Yeah? What's up?" she asked.  
  
"I was out in the rain last night, and I fainted, but some guy picked me up and nursed me back to health at his house or something and I need you to pick me up," I explained.  
  
"Yeah, sure, Core, whatever you need. Where does this guy live? I'm pretty sure I can't plug 'the house of that guy that picked Corie up off the street last night' into my GPS and have it take me to the right place," Evelyn joked.  
  
"Evie! This is serious!" The boy then tapped me on the shoulder and I looked up at him.  
  
"I can take you wherever you need to be," he said quietly.  
  
I smiled at the boy and turned my attention back to his phone. "Ev?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I got the boy to take me."  
  
"Oh, alright. You're welcome to come to my house so you don't freak out your mom with some random guy pulling into your driveway in some random car," she offered.  
  
I chuckled. "I was actually planning on it. We'll be there shortly," I said, and hung up, handing the phone back to the boy.  
  
"So where are we headed?" he asked, shoving his phone into his pocket.  
  
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood up. "My best friend's house," I answered.  
  
He nodded and pulled keys out of his pocket, jingling them on his index finger. "Let's get going then."  
  
When we arrived at Evelyn's house an hour later, I looked at the boy before getting out of his car. "Thanks for picking me up. I'd probably be a lot worse off if you hadn't," I said, smiling.  
  
He just nodded and said, "Yeah, sure."  
  
I moved to get out of his car again, but stopped and turned back toward him. "What were you doing out in rain like that last night, anyway?" I asked.  
  
The boy smiled. "I could ask you the same question."  
  
I chuckled. "Well can I at least know the name of my Good Samaritan?"  
  
The boy smiled again. "You're better off not knowing it," he answered.  
  
I sighed. "Alright. Thanks again, though."  
  
He nodded again. "Yeah, sure," he said again. I finally exited his car and watched him pull out of Evelyn's driveway and down the street. I walked onto Evelyn's porch and she gave me a confused look.  
  
"Who was that?" she asked.  
  
I shrugged. "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me his name."


	5. five.

**CORIE**  
  
"So what happened?" Evelyn asked, closing the door behind her and ushering me in.  
  
I ran a hand through my messy blonde hair, feeling how nasty it had gotten after being soaked by the pouring rain, and then left to air-dry in that cute boy's house.  
  
"You might want to sit down to hear this, Ev," I said, pushing down on Evelyn's shoulders. She sat down, never taking her eyes off me as I sat down right next to her.  
  
"Corie...what is this about?" shes asked slowly, her face masked in concern and worry.  
  
I took a deep breath. "I'll start from the beginning."  
  
"That's usually a good place to start," Evelyn cut in.  
  
I put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her. "Please let me tell this."  
  
Evelyn settled back into the couch cushions and crossed her arms. "Okay, start talking."  
  
I took another deep breath. "Well, Tom came and picked me up from my house last night to go back to his house for dinner. He was less-than-pleased with my choice of of outfit, especially my shoes" - I tugged at my dirt-covered dress and my bare feet - "but he just tugged me out my door. We drove in silence back to his house and we actually had a nice Italian dinner that _he_ made."  
  
Evelyn held up a hand and I nodded to her. "So how does that end you up here, barefoot, tattered, and dirty?" she asked.  
  
I smiled. "I'm getting there." She nodded and waved me on. "Well, after dinner, I kicked off my shoes in the basement, and we watched old home movies on the pullout couch. I made a comment that made him kiss me, and I kissed him back, but he kissed again...and I knew what he wanted. I pulled away and told him no, and I was going to tell him that another month wasn't enough to change my mind, but..." I trailed off and hung my head.  
  
"But what, Core?" Evelyn urged.  
  
I took a deep breath for the third time and looked up at her, hesitating a moment before answering. "He wouldn't take no for an answer," I said firmly.  
  
Evelyn gasped, clamped her hands to mouth, and her eyes widened. "Corie!" she breathed when her hands came down off of her mouth.  
  
"You think I wasn't freaking out?!? When he...finished...he threw me my underwear, I pulled it on hurriedly and shot up from the pullout. I shoved my dress on, and Tom offered to help me zip it, but I screamed at him that he couldn't touch me and he was never allowed to again, so I zipped up my dress as far as I could and shot out of the basement and out of the house into the pouring rain.  
  
"On such an adrenaline rush, I ran and ran and ran, not caring where the hell I was going, just following the sidewalk, but at some point I slowed down and fell to my knees. I broke down crying for God knows how long, and then I passed out. When I woke up, I was in that boy's house." I scanned Evelyn's face to try and gauge what her reaction would be.  
  
"And what happened there? At the boy's house, I mean," Evelyn asked.  
  
"Well, when I woke up, I looked around and tried to figure out where the hell I was, and then I noticed the boy in the corner. I tried to ask him where I was, but he just gave me a smart-ass answer. I asked him for my phone, he said he didn't find one on me, and I swore. I realize now that I left my phone, with my purse, and my shoes at Tom's when I ran out."  
  
"So how did you call me if you don't have your phone?" Evelyn asked.  
  
"The boy lent me his phone. When you asked where I was, I asked him what his street address was and where he lived, but he just said that he would take me where I needed to be, a.k.a. here. It took us an hour to get here, we made unimportant small talk, but we never told each other our names," I explained.  
  
"Did you learn anything interesting about him?" Evelyn inquired.  
  
I nodded. "I did, in fact. He's the singer and lead guitarist of a punk band, and he's the youngest of six children."  
  
"Six?" Evelyn asked incredulously, raising her eyebrows.  
  
I laughed. "I had the exact same reaction, but yes, six."  
  
"Shit. And lead guitarist of a punk band?"  
  
"Singer, too."  
  
"You don't think it's the front man of the band you're seeing next weekend, is it?"  
  
I shook my head. "That'd be too weird," I said.  
  
Evelyn shrugged. "It's possible."  
  
I shrugged as well. "Yeah, I guess." Silence for a moment.  
  
"Are you gonna tell your mom?" Evelyn asked. I nodded. "Before the concert?" I nodded again. Evelyn looked me up and down. "Let's get you home and cleaned up, c'mon. I bet your mom is worried sick." I chuckled and stood up, stretching and following Evelyn out to her car.  
  
"Corie!" my mom screamed, running up to me and grabbing me in a rib-cracking hug.  
  
"Hey, Mom," I breathed, extracting my arms from my mother's grip and hugging her back.  
  
"Where have you been?" she shrieked, her hands on my shoulders.  
  
"Well, I was at Tom's for most of the night last night, but I ran away late last night, passed out on the sidewalk in the rain, got picked up by a nameless Good Samaritan, he took me to Evelyn's, and Evelyn brought me here," I recounted.  
  
"Why did you run away from Tom's?" my mom asked.  
  
I took a deep breath. "Because Tom raped me."  
  
My mom's hands moved from my shoulders to her mouth, like Evelyn had done. "Sweetheart," she breathed, wrapping her arms around me again slowly.  
  
A couple of tears fell onto my mom's shoulder and I looked her in the eye. "I don't want to go to the emergency room."  
  
My mom nodded. "Whatever you want, sweetheart." She took her hands off my shoulders and looked at me solemnly for a moment. "Are you sure you're alright?"  
  
I nodded then sighed. "And the concert is next weekend," I muttered.  
  
"If you don't want to go, I'll understand," my mom said.  
  
I snapped my up to look at her. "No! That concert is just what I need after all this!" I exclaimed.  
  
My mom nodded again. "If that's what you want, dear." She paused. "What about the stuff you left at Tom's?"  
  
"Oh, shit. I don't know. I don't want to go back over there. Not so soon," I answered.  
  
"I'll go over and get it with you since you're the only one of us that knows exactly where it all is," Evelyn bravely offered.  
  
I looked over at her with a solid, determined face, and nodded. "Okay," I said, turning toward the door I had just entered through.  
  
Evelyn grabbed my arm, and I turned around to look at her. "Why don't we get you cleaned up first?" she suggested.  
  
I chuckled and tugged my arm out of Evelyn's loose grip. "Yes, Mom." I said jokingly, smiling and walking up the stairs with Evelyn behind me.


End file.
